


The Art of Staying Normal

by queerSeth



Category: H2O: Just Add Water
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, also denman's here, but he'll be less of an asshole later, mermaid fights, multiple sub plots, nates an asshole, not canon, relationships, talking honestly with each other, zane slowly breaks down
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-11 19:12:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10472130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerSeth/pseuds/queerSeth
Summary: Zane is still on the hunt for mermaids around Mako Island, and Rikki resorts to drastic measures to get him to stop.





	1. Underwater Cameras

“I’m just telling you what I saw,” Cleo said, raising an eyebrow. “Zane and his dad were on a boat with Denman, and they kept circling Mako Island.”

Emma grimaced and turned to Rikki. “I thought you said Zane was going to drop it?”

Rikki sighed and shook her head. “He said he would.” Emma opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a shout across the yard.

“Rikki!” 

Emma and Cleo gave Rikki stern looks as they moved to leave, much to Rikki’s distaste. Zane caught up to her just as her friends turned their backs.

“What?” She asked, noting the venom in her own voice as her anger with her friends quelled. 

Zane’s grin fell from his face and he dropped his shoulders. “What’d I do this time?”

Rikki pursed her lips and widened her eyes in mocked surprise. “I dunno, Zane,” she shrugged. “When were you going to tell me that you’re still looking for  _ her _ ?”

It was almost comical to her how taken aback he looked then, like a kicked puppy. She would feel bad if she weren’t so annoyed in the first place.

Zane at least had the grace not to feign surprise. Instead, he grabbed her hand and leant down so that their eyes were level, and smiled as wide as he could muster. “I’m so close, Rikki,” he said, almost as though he was asking permission. “I know she’s out there.”

“Not good enough.”

He sighed and dropped her hand, looking away. “What do I have to do to convince you?” She only huffed and backed away. His face fell even further, and suddenly his casual demeanour dropped. “Rikki?”

Rikki bit her lip and shook her head. “I told you, Zane. Right at the start. It was either me or her.” She felt her lip quiver as Zane opened his mouth to speak and put a hand up to stop him. “I can’t keep going like this. You have to choose, right now.”

That seemed to snap something inside of him, and the shift in his expression took Rikki so much by surprise, it took her all of five seconds to realise he had stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders.

“You.”

She was almost startled, but he didn’t give her much time to think as he closed the space between their faces and kissed her as lightly as he could. She smiled and kissed back, but pulled away after a moment and took a breath, slowing her heart back to a regular pace.

“So, no more mermaids?”

He smiled and kissed her forehead. “No more mermaids.”

\--

Three days later saw the end of that promise as Rikki backpedalled in the water outside the moonpool. Her face was inches from a small camera, and there were more of them in the area, all trained on the moonpool entrance and surrounding waters.  She took a small moment to relish in the fact that she had come alone, meaning that if she had been seen, she could still keep her friends safe. She turned tail and sped back to the mainland, allowing herself to be angry once she was sure she couldn't be seen.

She found Zane in the Juice-Net, sitting with Nate and a girl she didn’t recognise. He grinned as he caught sight of her and pulled her to his side, placing a kiss on her temple. She would have pushed him away if they had been alone, but she only smiled and wrapped an arm around him, her insides churning.

“Everything alright?” Zane asked, frowning down at her. She only nodded in response and motioned to the door. Zane, bless him, followed without a word, save for his farewell to Nate, who ignored him.

Outside and alone, Rikki let go of her calm facade and had to lean on a tree to support herself in her rage. She could feel her hands beginning to warm up like she could lose control at any moment. Zane was still frowning and had a hand on her arm to keep her steady.

“You chose  _ me _ .” She whispered, her eyes trained on the ground. Zane blew out a puff of air and dropped his hand.

“Rikki, I-”

She laughed, cutting him off. “You almost had me, Zane. You almost had me completely fooled.” She laughed again and locked her eyes on his. “I should’ve known not to trust you.”

He looked near tears as he reached for her again, but she backed out his reach He shook his head and furrowed his brow. 

“I do want you, Rikki,” he said. “I did choose you.”

“Then why are there cameras all over Mako?” She seethed.

Zane blinked and cocked his head, all other emotions abandoned for curiosity. “How would  _ you _ know that?”

There wasn’t enough time to react. If she had been a fraction of a second quicker, she could have avoided his grasp, but she wasn’t, and so his hand closed around her wrist and he pulled her to his chest.

“How do you know about the cameras, Rikki?”

Her face fell as she realised what she had done, and she struggled to get free of him, but he had grabbed her other wrist as well, and she had already worn herself out swimming. Instead, she turned her face up to his and gave him her meanest stare.

“Why are there cameras to know about?”

He dropped her hands but she didn’t run away. She had him now. His only way out would be to lie, and the look she was giving him suggested that lying was the worst possible thing he could do.

“I know how this looks...” He started, slowly as if he was testing the water for sharks. “Dr Denman just wanted to get some data on the species in the area,” not a lie. “And she needs the cameras to stay up a bit longer,” also not a lie. Rikki glowered at him, and he returned it with a tentative smile. “My dad says it’ll only be a few more days.”

“A few more days to look for mermaids?” She asked, pitching her voice up into a cheerful,  _ I-know-what-you’re-doing _ tone. Her face dropped into a scowl as he sighed and looked away.

“The cameras were going to be there anyway... I just thought-”

Rikki turned away then and walked far enough that he couldn’t grab her again before turning back. “Do you want to know why I don’t like you looking for mermaids?”

He shot his eyes up to her and nodded.

“It’s because of that mermaid, the one you’re so desperate to expose? That’s me, Zane.”

She watched his eyes widen and then shrink and widen again as he tried to make sense of what she had sense. His brow furrowed and smoothed over and over, and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish trying to breathe. The most he said at a time was “I-” and “But-” before he had to go back to thinking. After a couple minutes, he seemed to have it figured out enough that he could form a whole sentence, and he looked back up at her.

“ _ You’re _ the mermaid?”

She laughed. Not a sarcastic laugh, either, but a true, honest laugh that shook her body and made her double over. She knew he was watching her, probably confused, but she couldn’t stop.

“That- That’s what you have to say?” She wheezed. “All that thinking, for  _ that _ ?”

He didn’t laugh. He was frozen in place, watching as her mania ran its course until she finally stopped. When she had taken deep breaths and straightened up again, he took a cautious step towards her and smiled to himself when she didn’t move away.

“I’m just- I’m a bit confused,” he started, taking another step. “I’m trying to make sense of it.”

She eyed his feet as they came closer and closer, but decided against moving away. “There’s not much to make sense of,” she said. “I’m a mermaid.”

He chuckled nervously and nodded. “I got that much.”

He was right in front of her again, and he allowed himself a moment to remember what it was like to have her in his arms. She shifted on her feet and sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Will you stop looking for me now?”

She felt his arms wrap around her torso and his chin rested on her head. She felt him nod against her skull and smiled despite herself.

“Thank you.”

\--

“You  _ told _ him?” Emma yelled, wearing the floorboards down under her as she paced back and forth. Rikki only smiled sheepishly in response and shrugged.

“It was an accident.”

Cleo bit her lip and tilted her head. “Buuut... you only told him about  _ you _ , right? Like, he doesn’t know about Emma or me?”

Rikki shook her head. “I was really careful, I promise.”

“Careful enough to tell  _ Zane Bennett  _ that you're a mermaid?” Emma challenged, stopping her pacing to face Rikki.

“Yeah, actually,” Rikki retorted, suddenly angry. “So what if he knows? Lewis knows!” 

“Lewis is trustworthy,” Emma said, going back to her pacing. “Zane would sell us all to Denman for a new bike and you know it.”

“He wouldn’t,” she protested. “Not to me.”

Cleo kicked her legs up in the air so that they fell back down in a crisscross position and pulled a pillow to her chest. “Exactly,” She grinned. “That’s why I think it’s good you told him.”

It took everything in Rikki not to smirk as Emma sputtered and choked on her next words. Cleo spun around in her chair like a child and flashed Rikki her brightest smile. 

“I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have Lewis to help me with some of this,” she confessed. “Not that you too aren’t great, but sometimes it’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

“I don’t  _ need _ someone to talk to, though!” Rikki groaned. “I just want him to leave this whole mermaid business alone.”

Emma smiled like she had gotten the upper hand. “See? Even you don’t trust him.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Rikki glared. “I just mean he’s normal, and I want him to stay normal.”

The two girls nodded sympathetically and went silent after that. They all seemed to get lost in their own thoughts until Mr Sertori came up and called them for dinner.


	2. The Best Mermaid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I thought I'd make this chapter 2k words, but it ended up being shorter than chapter 1 cause I have to leave for class soon, so I promise to make up for it in the next chapter!  
> If you're actually reading this story then thank you! I didn't know if anyone would cause the fandom's kinda smaller than what I usually write for, but I like this story and I wanna keep going with it

Zane had her hand in his, pulling her along the beach until they were the only two in sight if you looked either direction, but even then he pulled her along for a while longer.

“Okay,” he said, letting go at last. “Here we are.”

Rikki looked at him with a mix of annoyance and confusion plastered on her face. “You know,” she said with the beginnings of a smirk. “This is starting to sound like the makings of a good horror film.”

He laughed, and for a moment she forgot why they were there. For a moment, they were back on their third date, burying each other’s feet and chasing each other with seaweed. He was throwing her over his shoulder, and she was laughing until her sides hurt. They were eating sandwiches in the grass, and debating the proper way to pronounce “necromancy”.

Now, she was standing barely four inches from the water, and they both were silent. The past isn’t much fun when the present makes it so much harder to remember. Zane had been a few feet behind her when she had last checked, but now she felt him wrap his arms around her waist and press his torso to hers, sighing into her neck.

“You know, I believe you either way,” he whispered. “You don’t have to show me if you don’t want to.”

She shook her head and pulled out of his arms. The water was cold against the bottoms of her feet, and she felt sand wash in between her toes as the tide rushed towards her. Zane was still back where she had left him, watching with an understanding expression, and she let herself breathe, knowing that telling him had been the hard part, and this was nothing compared to that.

Her skin tingled familiarly as the ten seconds ran out. The ground raced up to meet her as her sturdy legs were replaced with the flimsy tail, and she hit the water hard, sending a spray of sea foam towards the sky. She grimaced slightly at the impact but got over it in time to turn around and see Zane’s face.

She couldn’t tell if he was mesmerised or horrified. She hoped it was the former, but she wasn’t going to get her hopes up just yet. He was staring at her, but she noticed he wasn’t staring at her tail at all as she had thought he would. Instead, his eyes were fixed on hers, searching her face. She gave him a tentative smile and stared back, trying to convey with her expression that she wanted him to say something.

He took a step forward into the water and sat down next to her, never breaking eye with her. She had a thought to drag herself into the water and swim away, but instead, she just stayed there, waiting for him to do something else. He slowly lifted his hand and placed it on the skin where her stomach met her tail and kept it there, waiting for her response.

“This is real.” He said slowly. “You’re real.”

She nodded and he grinned. His hand ran over the scales, flattening them slightly, and then popping them back up again as he switched direction. Rikki winced a bit at the sensation, and he pulled his hand away, his eyes widening with concern as he looked back to her face.

“Did I hurt you?” He asked. His forehead was creased, and Rikki had to put her palm to his cheek to let him know she was alright. He grabbed it and pushed his cheek into her, reminding her of a cat. He opened his eyes when she started giggling, and she leant up to kiss him.

“You know, I was really scared to do this,” she admitted. “I didn’t want you to think I was strange.”

Zane took a breath and loosened his grip on her hand. “I just- I’m not sure how else to react,” he said. “I want you to know I’m okay with this. I don’t think you’re strange.”

Rikki nodded. “I know. It’s more my own anxiety.” She flipped her tail slightly, splashing the both of them. “Help me dry off?”

\--

When she had her legs back, they walked along the beach a while longer. Zane asked questions, and Rikki tried to answer as best as she could, but even some things she had no response for. When Zane finally asked what Rikki had hoped he wouldn’t, she stopped walking and sat down.

“I didn’t rescue you,” she admitted. “That was... Someone else.”

“Do you know who?”

She took a deep breath and shook her head, ignoring the bad taste in her mouth she always got from lying to him. “There’s a few mermaids in the area. I don’t know any of them.”

His shoulders dropped, but he nodded. “Well, if you ever find out who it was, could you say thanks for me?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You aren’t going to look for her?”

“Nah,” he grinned. “I’ve already found a mermaid.”

She smiled and leant against his shoulder, wrapping an arm around his waist. “You found the  _ best _ mermaid.”

He laughed. “Oh yes, I think I did.”

There was a stretch of silence, and then Rikki looked up. “Zane?”

“Hm?”

“Promise you won’t look for the others?”

He blinked for a moment, taken by surprise. “Of course not!” He said, then added, “Why not?”

She shook her head. “I just want them to be safe if anything goes wrong.”

He shifted out of her arms and turned to face her. “What do you mean, ‘if anything goes wrong?’”

She sighed. “I think Denman caught me on one of her underwater cameras. If she thinks it’s only me, she’ll leave the others alone.”

She had turned her face away from him, but she could feel him shifting next to her. His hand found her knee and she smiled sadly.

“I won’t look for your friends, Rikki. I promise.”

She smiled a little at how quickly he had caught her lie, but then she sighed, thinking back to their conversation four days earlier, and his promise then. Still, she had no choice but to trust him, and she did trust him, just not as much as she had. She nodded and turned back to him as he began speaking again.

“I’m also not gonna let Denman get to you. I’ll fix it, Rikki.” He smiled and kissed her cheek. “I’m gonna protect you.”

“I can protect myself,” she laughed and her face softened. “But thank you.”

He kissed her again and stood up, holding out his hand for her. “Come on, I wanna show you something.”

\--

The room was small, but not too cramped. In the middle, a cream coloured queen sized bed took up most of the floor space, and the two bedside tables on either side were small enough to fit perfectly between the bed and the wall. The wall facing the bed had a flat screen TV hooked up to it, and shelves of movies and photo frames were hanging beside it. There was a small mini-fridge near the door, and a balcony overlooking the ocean.

Rikki sat on the bed, running her hands along the soft blankets. Zane was leaning against the wall beside her with a bemused expression, his head tilted slightly as he watched her examine the room.

“You wanted to show me a hotel room, then?” she asked with an eyebrow raised. 

Zane laughed and came to sit beside her, making the bed shake as he sat down. “This isn’t just a simple hotel room,” he said. “This is our place.”

She raised her eyebrow further, trying to contain her laughter. “Our  _ place _ ?”

He smacked her arm lightly and she burst out laughing. He joined her after a moment and let himself fall backwards onto the pillows. “Yes, our place. A place we can come to when we need a break.”

Rikki, still sitting, looked over her shoulder and him and waggled her brow. “Zane Bennett, are you attempting to seduce me?”

He licked his lip in an equally comical way and reached forward to pull her down to him. “Why?” He asked as she laughed and struggled to get free. “Do you want to be seduced?”

She wriggled free, but stayed beside him, catching her breath. “Maybe,” she winked. Her giggles came back as his face went red, and she turned her face to kiss him.

He kissed back and rolled over, sitting back up on the bed. “I didn’t mean specifically  _ that _ ,” he said, his blush still growing. “I just meant in general. This is just... A place.”

Rikki smiled and rolled over to face him completely. “Well, I like it.”

“Good,” he grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can't tell by now, I really like Rikki and Zane together. I'm thinking a lot of this story is just gonna be them doing cute stuff together, so if that's what you're here for, strap in!  
> Also, I don't really have a plot. I'm just throwing all of my ideas down as I have them and trying to have it all make sense, so this is more of an experiment than a story. Characters might change, plots will probably get a bit unrealistic... just bear with me, okay?  
> If you are enjoying this, leaving a kudos is the best way to let me know, and it's FREE, and who doesn't love free stuff?  
> Anyways, I'll see y'all tomorrow hopefully if I get chapter 3 written by then!


	3. Biology

Emma hadn’t said a single word to Rikki since she had gotten to school, but Cleo made up for it eightfold with all her questions about Zane. “What did you tell him?” and “Are we gonna be safe?” came up so many times, that by the time lunch had rolled around, Rikki could anticipate what she was going to say after the first word alone.

“I didn’t tell him about you, okay?” She slammed her locker shut and huffed, walking away from the brunette, who jogged to keep up with her.

“Okay, but... He doesn’t know-”

Rikki spun to face her, her hair whipping her face from the force. “Look, Cleo. I don’t know what else to tell you, okay? I didn’t tell him anything.”

Cleo sighed and nodded. “I know Rikki, it’s just... It’s  _ really  _ important that Zane knows as little as possible. Remember who his dad is, and who he works for.”

Rikki inhaled and grunted in exasperation, walking away again. She made it almost halfway down the hallway when her nose bumped into someone’s chest, knocking her back. Nate put his hands up in apology and leant into her to see if she was okay, but she brushed him off, storming into a classroom. Cleo watched with a frown until she had disappeared from view completely.

“Is she alright?” Nate asked, glancing back to where Rikki had been mere moments before. Cleo only shrugged in response and turned to walk away. “Hey wait!” Nate called after her. She spun around and rolled her shoulders smiling as if to tell him " _ go away." _

“What, Nate?”

He chuckled and pulled an envelope out of his bag. “In this envelope is $300.” He waved it in her face as if to prove the point further. “Now, I need a tutor in biology, and I heard you were the gal to ask.”

She spun around, looking for a camera or anything else that could humiliate her, but the coast seemed clear. “You know I’m not very good in biology,” she said, keeping her guard up. “Why not ask Lewis?”

“Well,” he smiled, stepping closer. “I want  _ you _ to help me.”

The envelope waved in her face again, and she sighed, debating for only a moment before grabbing it. “Fine,” she said. “Meet me at the Juicenet at four, and I’ll see what I can do.”

He grinned and nodded, walking past her as the bell rang for class to start again.

\--

Emma and Rikki were sitting in a booth at the Juicenet after school. Their animosity had been set aside to make room for their newest challenge: Cleo and Nate sitting together across the room.

“Okay,” Rikki started, choosing her words. “Theory number three: Nate broke her nose at school, and now he’s treating her to a drink to apologise.”

“We’d see the bandage, Rikki,” Emma said. “Besides, Nate wouldn’t apologise for something like that.”

Rikki shrugged and took another sip of her juice as Zane walked in, looking around until his eyes fell on her. He walked over quickly and slipped into the booth next to Emma, who moved away annoyed.

“We have a problem,” he whispered, flitting his eyes to the doorway. Rikki and Emma’s gazes followed his, but nothing happened. 

“What do you mean?” Rikki whispered back.

He glanced at Emma with caution and took a moment to choose his words before turning back to Rikki. “Denman found  _ something _ ,” He looked pointedly at Rikki. “On her camera feed from a couple days ago, and now she’s coming to  _ talk _ to you about it.”

The familiar sound of the beads being pushed aside at the door rang in Rikki’s ears and her face fell. Zane must have recognised her fear because he grabbed her hand from under the table and nodded reassuringly. Emma, too, was forming a plan as quickly as she could: save Rikki, don’t let Zane know what she is.

“Hello, Zane. Girls,” Denman’s sickly sweet voice sounded beside them. “Pleasant day, isn’t it?”

They all nodded, but Zane’s expression was all but pleasant as he held Rikki’s hand tighter.

Rikki, on the other hand, was smiling very brightly and was the first to speak. “It really is. You know, I was just telling my friends how I think it’s the perfect day for a swim.”

Denman smiled and nodded, sitting down. “I agree. Perhaps I could talk to Rikki alone? Emma? Zane?”

Emma moved to leave, but Zane stopped her, still holding Rikki. “We aren’t going anywhere.”

Denman’s face fell and she pouted. “Are you sure? It’s important.”

“We’re sure,” Emma said, joining in on whatever Zane had planned. Rikki’s eyes darted between the both of them and she shook her head.

“Guys, it’s fine, honestly.”

Zane didn’t move until Rikki pulled her hand away, and even still, he made a point to stay close to the table. Emma followed him and took a seat at a nearby table, carefully watching both Denman and Nate in case either of them caused any trouble for her friends.

“I’ll kill her if she touches her,” Zane snarled, surprising Emma out of her routine.

“I’ll help.”

Zane grinned. “You’re a good friend.”

Emma sighed and shook her head. “I’m not. I just know the danger Rikki’s in.”

That caught Zane’s attention and he broke his gaze for a moment to look at her. “You do?”

“Yeah,” she replied, treading as carefully as she could. “Rikki’s my friend. I know what’s going on.”

Zane looked as though he was about to respond, but just then Denman stood up, Rikki following suite, and they headed towards the door. Zane jumped up to follow, but Rikki shook her head at him, and he knew to listen. He watched them disappear, feeling helpless.

\--

“So, mitochondria are what?”

Cleo groaned and slammed the textbook shut. “We’re past that already, Nate.”

He only smirked in response and shrugged. “Maybe I'm tired of studying.” He reached a hand over the table to here, stroking his thumb across her palm. “Let's find something else to do.”

She raised an eyebrow and pulled her hand away. “Nate... I’m dating Lewis.”

“Are you?” he asked, cocking his head with a coy grin. “Coulda fooled me.”

She scoffed and shook her head. “Is that why you asked me to help you? Because you, what? Have a crush on me?”

He shrugged and leant forward again, still spotting his easygoing smile. She wrinkled her nose and shoved the textbook into her bag. 

“Good day, Nate.” 

She stormed out, making a conscious effort to stomp her foot down hard with every step she took. She heard Nate stand to follow her, but she didn’t look back.

He caught up to her mere moments before her toes hit the ocean. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her away from the water's edge, laughing in her ear.

“You broke up with Lewis last week,” he said, spinning her around. “You like me, and I'm gonna prove it.”

Cleo, still dazed from the interruption, only stood frozen as Nate leant in. She regained mobility in time to turn her head before his lips met hers, and he caught her cheek instead. The sound of his laughter drew her attention back forward.

“Knew it.” He smirked. The way he was beaming, Cleo would have guessed he’d won some sort of trophy.

“That doesn't prove anything,” Cleo scowled. “Other than you're an ass, that is.”

Nate was still grinning, but took a smart step back, letting go of her. “If you didn't think you had any feelings for me, you wouldn't have cared if I kissed you or not.”

“That makes no sense, numbnuts!” Emma called from across the grass. “Let her go.”

Cleo sighed in relief and ran towards Emma, only briefly acknowledging Zane as he stormed past her and grabbed Nate by the collar.

“Look, mate, there’s only so much shit I can take today, and you being a dick isn’t gonna make the cut, got it?”

Nate’s eyes widened and he nodded. Zane dropped him and he ran off, checking over his shoulder every few feet to make sure no one was following him. Emma and Cleo stared at Zane with looks of pity and confusion as he started back towards them. He passed them without a glance and motioned for them to follow him, which they did without question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I think I broke him!  
> So many subplots! I wish I could explain my vision for this piece, but like I said before, it's just a big amalgamation of all my headcanons and ideas, so I don't know where it's gonna go
> 
> As always, kudos are fun to leave!


End file.
